April 1 seems early for second node, but that seems to be the spring we have this year. Early planting, good establishment, autumn growth, an untypically warm and dry February – any one of these might seem unusual but all combined in the same growing season, they are a rarity.

The results include winter crops at second node with the third-last leaf emerged and January-sown spring crops already tillering. Unfortunately, these potential benefits come with no guarantee of harvest performance but they do require some possible alteration of timings for essential inputs like growth regulation and disease control. This short report points to things that might be done differently in some fields this spring.

We are constantly being reminded of the importance of getting this timing right in our winter wheat crops. This is normally a job I associated with the last two weeks in April rather than there first two but the timing is the timing.

The fact that some crops are so advanced means that all crops need to be assessed on their leaf emergence stage as well as the growth stage.

We are told time and again that it is the last three leaves that do the work in wheat crops and so these need to be kept as free of disease as possible. When the third-last leaf is fully emerged, the second-last leaf will be at least 30% emerged also. Wait to have the third-last fully emerged to spray the T1 fungicide.

This may mean that the interval between the T1 and the T2 could be particularly long this year if growth is slowed in the coming weeks. If this happens or is likely, the advice from last year is to target both T1 and T2 at their appropriate timing and to apply a contact (chlorothalonil) two to three weeks after the T1 timing. This might not be an issue at all in later-developing crops.

T1 fungicides will tend to be a mixture of an SDHI, a triazole and chlorothalonil. Walking fields this spring, it seems to be very easy to see signs of ordinary eyespot and so the T1 needs to cover against this disease by having either boscalid or prothioconazole in the tank.

While these comments relate to the most forward crops, there are many others which are not at or only around GS31 and these are unlikely to be at or near the stage for T1 fungicide. Being able to strip down the leaves to know the timing for T1 is arguably more important than the choice of SDHI.

As all wheat crops are now into stem extension, they should have received growth regulator. Some were obviously sprayed in frosty conditions a few weeks ago as they suffered a lot of leaf death as a consequence. If frosty nights persist and you need to apply PGR, the risk of plant damage will be lower when using K2, Ceraide or Medax Max.

Winter barley

Winter barley crops are as variable as wheat, with crops ranging from a strong first node to the second-last leaf emerging. Some crops are showing yellow patches so BYDV will be a risk. All winter barley crops should really have a first fungicide on by now. Choice of product will be influenced by what may be in the crop. Most crops are clean but there was some old mildew.

There is a bit of rhyncho about – that means prothioconazole in the tank with either a strobilurin or an SDHI. If there is net blotch in the crop, the preference is for a strobilurin triazole mix as there is a risk of resistance in this disease to SDHI actives.